Today is Saturday, July 3, the 185th day of 2004. There are 181 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 3, 1863, the three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreated.

On this date:

In 1608, the city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass.

In 1890, Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union.

In 1898, the U.S. Navy defeated a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War.

In 1930, Congress created the U.S. Veterans Administration.

In 1962, Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule.

In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of The Doors died in Paris at age 27.

In 1986, President Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

In 1987, British millionaire Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first hot-air balloon travelers to cross the Atlantic, jumping into the sea as their craft went down off the Scottish coast.

In 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

Ten years ago: Thirty-one people died in three separate crashes on Texas highways. Pete Sampras defeated Goran Ivanisevic to win the Wimbledon men’s championship, 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.

Five years ago: President Clinton, acting to head off potential problems with the safety of imported food, said in his weekly radio address he was ordering inspectors at American ports to brand all unsafe and rejected food products, “Refused U.S.”

One year ago: The U.S. put a $25 million bounty on Saddam Hussein.

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Ken Russell is 77. Jazz musician Pete Fountain is 74. Playwright Tom Stoppard is 67. Writer-producer Jay Tarses is 65. Singer Fontella Bass is 64. Actor Kurtwood Smith is 61. Actor Michael Cole (“The Mod Squad”) is 59. Country singer Johnny Lee is 58. Writer Dave Barry is 57. Actress Betty Buckley is 57. Rock singer-musician Paul Barrere (Little Feat) is 56. Actress Jan Smithers is 55. Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier is 53. Talk show host Montel Williams is 48. Singer Laura Branigan is 47. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 46. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Erasure) is 44. Actor Tom Cruise is 42. Actor Thomas Gibson is 42. Actress Hunter Tylo is 42. Singer Ishmael Butler is 35. Rock musician Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies) is 35. Actress-singer Audra McDonald is 34. Singer Shane Lynch (Boyzone) is 28. Rhythm and blues singer Tonia Tash (Divine) is 25. Actor Grant Rosenmeyer (“Oliver Beene”) is 13. Actress Kelsey Batelaan is nine.

Thought for Today: “A man never knows how to say goodbye; a woman never knows when to say it.” – Helen Rowland, American journalist and humorist (1876-1950).